This invention relates to a device which enables wire rod to be wound, stored, transported and utilized.
Usually, these operations are notably carried out by winding the wire rod as a coil on a rigid support in the form of a spool, which may be flanged at its ends, and transporting, stacking, lifting and unwinding the wound coil with difficulty using further auxiliary equipment, which is sometimes uncommon.
It is normally transported either by lift trucks which in place of forks comprise a vertically mobile nose which is inserted into the coil spool, or by placing a cable sling around the coil, then lifting it and moving it with a crane truck.
Stacking is normally difficult because either the coil spools are unable to properly support the weight of an overlying coil, or the spools do not provide a suitable support surface for the overlying spool, and in any case the lifting necessary for the stacking operation must be carried out by slinging using a crane. In effect, it is preferred at this point to store the coils without stacking them, and large stores are therefore needed.
The coil normally has to be lifted using a crane and slinging, and a normal fork lift truck can only be used if the coil is previously placed in a container.
Finally, the wire rod is unwound using a mechanism by which the spool is rotated.
The aforegoing underlines the difficulty of the described operations using present-day methods of handling wire rod coils, both in terms of the equipment to be used and in terms of the time employed.